Bedford County native working to stop malnutrition in Uganda

Renee Bach started Saving His Children in 2008

BEDFORD, Va. – A Bedford County woman aiming to decrease malnutrition in Uganda plans to save thousands of lives with the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit program she started as a 19-year-old

The nonprofit, Saving His Children, uses funding from local donations in the United States. Renee Bach and her daughter Selah are only in the U.S. for a few weeks before going to back to live in Uganda full time.
    
Their time is spent playing with the new family dog, Blessing, and fundraising for Serving His Children.

"Our focus is malnutrition, so we do preventative care programs and also treatment services," Renee Bach said.

The Bedford native founded the organization in 2008 after returning from a 10-month visit to Uganda. She saw the need to break the cycle of malnutrition targeting children between the ages of 24 months and 5 years old.

"Six months into our program we really didn't see children coming into our program from our area because of education initiatives that were started. And so a lot of malnutrition is due to lack of education and parents don't really know what's healthy for the children,"  Renee Bach said.

So far, more than 3,400 families have been served since 2011 through medical evaluation, therapeutic foods and education. Bach says these needs were not previously met in the country.

"They have access to healthy foods in Uganda and it's not because they're not actually there. But because they maybe sell the items for rent or for buying water," said Bach.

Bach also met her daughter, Selah, at 2 weeks old in Uganda. She eventually adopted the girl in 2015 after starting the process in 2010.

"We travel together, we have play dates together," said Selah Grace Bach.

"One of my neighbors found her abandoned at birth and was taking care of her at the time. She bought her to see if we could help take care of her because she didn't have the resources to take care of her," said Renee Bach.      

And while in town for a few more days, Bach will be speaking at three locations this month informing people about Serving His Children and encouraging people to donate. Click here to read more information.Â